Title 49—Transportation--Volume 1
PART 451—TESTING AND APPROVAL OF CONTAINERS
§ 451.1   Application for approval.
(a) Any owner of an existing container may apply for approval to the Commandant (CG-OES), Attn: Office of Operating and Environmental Standards, U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7509, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20593-7509 or to any Approval Authority.
(b) Each application must include the following for each container:
(1) Date and place of manufacture.
(2) Manufacturer's identification number, if available.
(3) Maximum operating gross weight capacity.
(4) Allowable stacking weight for 1.8G (1.8 × Gross weight in kilograms or pounds).
This value is the total load the container is designed to support when subjected to a vertical acceleration of 1.8G.
(5) A statement that the owner possesses documentary evidence that:
(i) Container of this type has been safely used in marine or inland transport for a period of at least two years; or
(ii) The container was manufactured to a design type which had been tested and found to comply with the technical conditions set out in Annex II to the convention with the exception of those technical conditions relating to the end-wall and side-wall strength tests; or
(iii) The container was constructed to standards that were equivalent to the technical conditions set out in Annex II to the convention with the exception of those technical conditions relating to end-wall and side-wall strength tests.
(6) A certification by the owner, or, if the owner is a corporation, partnership or unincorporated association, by a person authorized to make such statements for the organization, that the information provided in the application is true and correct.
§ 451.3   Action by Approval Authority.
(a) The Approval Authority (or the Chief, Office of Operating and Environmental Standards (CG-OES), U.S. Coast Guard, if the application was submitted to the Coast Guard) issues to the owner a notice of approval or notifies the owner in writing that approval is denied, setting forth the deficiencies causing denial. Notification of approval entitles the owner to affix a safety approval plate to each container after an examination of each container concerned has been carried out in accordance with part 452 of this subchapter. In the case of an application submitted to the Coast Guard, the Chief, Office of Operating and Environmental Standards (CG-OES), U.S. Coast Guard acts on the application within 30 days of receipt of the application.
§ 451.5   Resubmission or appeal.
(a) Upon receipt of a denial of approval for certain containers, an owner may correct the noted deficiencies and resubmit the application without prejudice.
(b) An applicant aggrieved by a decision of an approval authority may obtain review of the decision by the Chief, Office of Operating and Environmental Standards (CG-OES), U.S. Coast Guard. The decision of the Chief, Office of Operating and Environmental Standards (CG-OES), U.S. Coast Guard is a final agency action.
§ 451.7   Alternative approval of existing containers.
(a) Existing containers that do not qualify for approval under this subpart may be presented for approval under the provisions of subpart B of this part. For such containers, the requirements of subpart B of this part, relating to the end and sidewall strength tests, do not apply. Upon showing that the containers have performed satisfactorily in service, the applicant may omit the presentation of drawings and testing, other than the lifting and floor strength test, if permitted by the approval authority.
§ 451.11   Application for approval-general.
(a) An owner of a new container, or a manufacturer acting on behalf of an owner, may apply for approval to any approval authority.
§ 451.12   Application for approval by design type.
(a) For approval of new containers by design type, each application must include the following:
(1) Engineering drawings and plans showing platform, end framing, welds and hardware, connections of cross-members, top and bottom rails, roof bows, detailed subassemblies of major structural components and attachments, and any other plans and drawings required by the approval authority.
(2) Design and material specifications including type and size of materials. Material specifications of the safety approval plate must also be given.
(3) The manufacturer's identification number assigned to each container in the type series.
(4) The identification code assigned to each container in the series by the owner, lessee, or bailee responsible for maintenance.
(5) The written assurance from the manufacturer, that the manufacturer will:
(i) Produce to the approval authority such containers as the approval authority may wish to examine;
(ii) Advise the approval authority of any change in the design or specification and await its approval before affixing the Safety Approval Plate to the container;
(iii) Affix the Safety Approval Plate to each container in the design type and to no others;
(iv) Keep a record of containers manufactured to the approved design type containing at least the manufacturer's identification numbers, date of delivery, and names and addresses of customers to whom the containers are delivered; and
(v) Supply to the approval authority the information contained in paragraphs (a)(3) and (4) of this section if not available at the time of original application.
(6) A statement as to whether this design type has been examined by any approval authority previously and judged unacceptable. Affirmative statements must be documented with the name of the approving authority, the reason for nonacceptance, and the nature of modifications made to the design type.
§ 451.13   Action by approval authority-approval by design type.
(a) The approval authority arranges with the manufacturer, with notification to the owner, to witness the prototype tests required by the convention, and to examine any number of containers that the approval authority considers appropriate. Upon witnessing successful completion of prototype tests and examination of several containers the approval authority issues to the owner, a notice of approval which authorizes the attachment of safety approval plates to the containers. Absence of individual inspections will not relieve the manufacturer of any responsibility to maintain proper quality control. If a prototype container fails to pass the tests, the approval authority may require testing of as many further representative containers as necessary to ensure the adequacy of the design.
§ 451.14   Alternative approval of new containers by design type.
(a) New containers manufactured before June 16, 1978 without being approved under the preceding section may be approved by submission to an approval authority of an application corresponding to that required under § 451.1(b) for existing containers. All new containers so approved must have safety approval plates affixed and receive their first periodic examination in accordance with the procedures prescribed in § 452.3 by January 1, 1985.
§ 451.15   Application for individual approval.
(a) For approval of new containers by individual approval, each application must include the following:
(1) The manufacturer's identification number.
(2) The identification code of the owner, lessee, or bailee responsible for maintenance of the container.
§ 451.16   Action by approval authority-individual approval.
(a) The approval authority arranges with the manufacturer or owner to witness testing in accordance with Annex II to the convention. Upon witnessing successful completion of the tests, the approval authority issues to the owner a notice of approval that authorizes the attachment of a safety approval plate.
§ 451.18   Review of denials of approval.
(a) An applicant aggrieved by a decision of an approval authority may obtain review of the decision by the Chief, Office of Operating and Environmental Standards (CG-OES), U.S. Coast Guard. The decision of the Chief, Office of Operating and Environmental Standards (CG-OES), U.S. Coast Guard is a final agency action.
§ 451.21   Safety approval plate required.
(a) The safety approval plate must be supplied by the owner or manufacturer.
§ 451.23   Plate specifications.
(a) The safety approval plate must be of the size and in the format specified in the appendix to Annex I to the convention.
(b) The safety approval plate must be:
(1) Designed to withstand and remain legible after a 15 minute exposure to a medium intensity fire producing a temperature of 1,000 °F (540 °C), when mounted on the specified material of construction of the container.
(2) Designed to resist the corrosive effects of its environment, both at sea and ashore, so as to remain legible for the working life of the container.
(3) Designed to have a legible life expectancy equal to or greater than the life expectancy of the container to which the plate is affixed.
§ 451.25   Required information.
(a) The safety approval number appearing on line 1 of the safety approval plate must be of the form “USA/(approval number, which includes the approval authority identification code)/(year in which approval was granted).”
(b) The date upon which approval was granted must be the same for all containers of a design-type or type-series covered by one notice of approval.
(c) The safety approval number must be the same for all containers of a design-type or type-series covered by one notice of approval.
(d) The owner's International Organization for Standardization (ISO) alpha numeric identification numbers may be used in place of the manufacturer's identification numbers on line 3 of the safety approval plate. If owner's identification numbers are used and the manufacturer's are available, the owner shall keep records correlating the owner's identification numbers used with the manufacturer's number. If a container marked with owner's identification numbers changes ownership, and the owner's identification number is changed as a result, the new owner must add the new owner's identification number, following the original owner's identification number on line 3 of the safety approval plate. In the event that the new owner's identification number cannot be legibly added to line 3 of the safety approval plate following the original owner's identification number, the new owner is authorized to put a new safety approval plate on the freight container provided that all the information contained on the original safety approval plate is retained in the owners files.